


like it was our destiny

by everytuesday



Series: riverswap [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, First Kiss, M/M, PFLAG Dad Hiram Lodge, Pining, Trans Archie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-27
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 19:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24401815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everytuesday/pseuds/everytuesday
Summary: “I’m Archibald Lodge. Archie.”“Ronnie Andrews,” the girl says, then looks to the boy, “And this is--”“Jughead Wilkins.” The name is all at once compelling, deeply unsexy, and weirdly familiar.  Jughead seems to catch the recognition in his expression and adds, “I’m pretty sure I’m your assigned peer mentor tomorrow.”(In which Archie is the new rich kid with a morally dubious family and Jughead is the overachieving boy-next-door)
Relationships: Archie Andrews & Hermosa Lodge, Archie Andrews/Jughead Jones
Series: riverswap [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1747600
Comments: 16
Kudos: 67
Collections: riverswap





	like it was our destiny

Archie must fall asleep on Hermosa’s shoulder on the way into town from the airport, because it’s her elbow digging into his side that rouses him when the car stops. He mutters a curse in her general direction and blinks through sleep-fogged eyes out the car window at the apartment building.

It’s definitely not New York.

The driver opens the door for him and Archie appreciates the one last glimmer of privilege before it slips away into the next moment when there’s no bellhop to take their bags and Archie has to take two of their suitcases himself.

“Remind me again why Dad would leave me an apartment in Nowhereville, New York?” Archie asks.

“You’ll have to take that up with him,” Hermosa says, strained as she retrieves her own bag from the trunk. She comes to stand beside him, linking her arm through his as they look up at the building. “He grew up here. Maybe he wanted you to have something of his home.”

“His home is with us. In New York.”

“It was. And now we’re here and the Pembrooke is our home,” Hermosa slings her arm around his shoulders and tilts her head toward him, that obnoxious big-sister smirk appearing on her lips, “Better get used to it,  _ hermanito _ . Things aren’t going to go back to normal for a long time.”

She gives his shoulders a squeeze before striding off toward the door of the apartment building. Archie follows, heaving the suitcases behind him.

The Pembrooke is definitely less ritzy than their now-seized-by-the-state penthouse, but it’s more beautiful than he was anticipating and there’s still an air of class about the place. They could do worse. Also, it’s  _ his, _ technically, which is strange. He’s grown up with no small amount of possessions but to own an  _ entire building _ is something new.

Hermosa heads for the stairs and Archie clears his throat, “Uh, we still have six bags in the car to bring inside. Are you going to help or--?”

Hermosa turns back around and grimaces, feigning apology, “So the thing is, I would. But I  _ just  _ got these nails done before Daddy went to jail. Plus, I’m not the one of us taking testosterone. Use those new muscles for something.”

Archie knows when to admit defeat. He stomps back outside to the car, which turns out to have already left, but the driver unloaded the rest of their bags on the sidewalk before leaving, so it’s one less thing for Archie to do. When he finally gets the last of the bags in and drags himself up the stairs to their living room, he finds Hermosa, shoes off, kicked back across the chaise lounge with her laptop out.

Archie flops onto the sofa across from her, letting out an exaggerated sigh of exhaustion as he kicks off his own shoes

“Don’t give me that,” Hermosa chides. “I’ve been working too. Honestly, I think you got the better deal out of this because I’m stuck reading Yap reviews for the five places there are to eat in this town and I think it’s making me break out in hives. Although,” she holds up a finger. “There is this one diner that looks like the entire town has given it five star reviews and I’m dying to know what that’s all about.”

Which is how Archie ends up putting back on his shoes and, twenty minutes later, walking through the front door of Pop’s Chock’lit Shoppe in search of the best, greasiest, quick-service dining experience money can buy in a town like Riverdale. There’s only a few people eating in the restaurant at this time of night, so he notices the pair immediately: a boy with a peculiarly-shaped beanie and a raven-haired girl, heads together as they talk over milkshakes. They look up as the bell chimes.

Archie locks eyes with the boy, who trails off mid-sentence, and it’s like the movies. A big, music-swelling, fireworks-exploding-in-your-chest moment that shouldn’t happen at greasy diners in small towns between two boys who’ve never met before. And yet, aside from Hermosa’s voice in his head informing him that he’s being melodramatic, he’s certain this is destiny. This is  _ fate _ .

The man behind the counter clears his throat. He’s waiting for Archie to say something and Archie forces himself to look away from the boy, mumble out his last name for the order Hermosa called in, and hand over some cash.  He steals a glance back to the booth and the boy has resumed conversation with the girl, but his eyes dart to Archie’s again and Archie’s feet seem to move of their own accord, mind made up before he even realizes it.

“Hi,” he says, stopping before the booth.

“Hey,” the girl smiles brightly at him. The boy gives a slightly less certain smile and waves, but doesn’t say anything.

Archie realizes he doesn’t have a plan, which isn’t a problem, per se, but it does mean he has no idea what’s going to come out when he opens his mouth: “I’m new in town and you two seem like locals. What’s the best thing on the menu here?”

The girl looks to the boy, who pipes up, “Double cheeseburger and fries, hands down. Can’t go wrong with a classic.”

“Think I made the right call then,” Archie says. “Are you two going to Riverdale?”

“Yeah, both of us. Together,” the boy says, and Archie can't figure out how to interpret the  _ together  _ of it all. “We’re sophomores.”

“Will you be there too?” the girl asks.

Archie nods, “I’m a little terrified, actually.”

“Why is that?”

“Are you familiar with the reality television empire of Bravo? I’m  _ Real Housewives _ and this place is strictly  _ Vanderpump Rules _ .”

From their blank looks, neither of them spent an ungodly amount of time binging reality television while attempting to ignore a media storm about their father’s shady business dealings. Probably just as well.

“I’m Archibald Lodge. Archie.”

“Ronnie Andrews,” the girl says, then looks to the boy, “And this is--”

“Jughead Wilkins.” The name is all at once compelling, deeply unsexy, and weirdly familiar. Jughead seems to catch the recognition in his expression and adds, “I’m pretty sure I’m your assigned peer mentor tomorrow.”

It should not be as thrilling of information as it is, “Oh! That’s great. I’m glad I’ll know at least one person.”

“Do you want to join us?” Ronnie offers.

“My sister will lose her mind if I bring her back cold food, so I should probably go,” Archie says. “But until next time...”

He throws one last smile at the pair of them before returning to the front counter, where a brown paper bag with  _ Lodge _ hastily scrawled across it awaits. He snags it and heads back out the door, sparing one last glance through the windows at the pair before returning to the Pembrooke.

School the next morning is less than charming. Paint is peeling off the walls (and it’s an ugly color to boot), while the floors don’t fare much better and are streaked with skid marks. There’s weird exposed patches of pipes in the ceiling along one hallway on his way to the office, and the fluorescent lighting is weak and definitely not environmentally-friendly. Not to mention the student body seems terribly under-dressed compared to private school in New York, like most of them rolled out of bed in skinny jeans and t-shirts.

Archie tugs on the cuffs of his blazer for the tenth time since the secretary, Miss Bell, started speaking to him. He hasn’t heard a word she’s said the entire time, though he’s certain it’s all terribly important.

“And  _ that’s  _ your locker combination,” Miss Bell slips him an index card across the desk. “Now! Your peer mentor--”

“-- is late!” Jughead appears, catching himself on the doorframe to stop himself mid-sprint. He hangs there for a moment, out of breath, “Sorry, Miss Bell. I was helping Betty with a thing before school and we got caught up.”

_ Betty _ . Archie files the name away to ask him about later. He’s also still wearing the beanie from last night and Archie wonders if he ever takes it off.

“Of course, dear,” Miss Bell says. “I know you’ve got plenty going on right now. I was just finishing getting Archibald here everything he needs.”

“Oh. Are you ready to go?” Jughead asks him. When Archie nods, Jughead steps aside and gestures to the door, “After you.”

Jughead falls into the lead as they walk toward the front of the school. Archie is trying his best to not look down on everything he sees about Riverdale High, but the school isn't making it easy. Outside of Jughead and Ronnie, there's not much to be impressed by. But it's a fresh start and that's more than he could've had in New York.  


“Still have first-day jitters?” Jughead asks, glancing back at him. The question is enough to ease half of Archie’s anxieties. Universe-exploding crush aside, Jughead seems like a genuinely nice person and god knows Archie could stand to be around more nice people.

“Not as bad as I thought,” Archie allows.

“Good,” Jughead smiles at him, slowing to a stop in front of the main doors. “I usually start off with the basic history of the school. Just tell me if you have any questions? So, Riverdale High first opened its doors in 1941 and--”

“Hasn’t redecorated since,” Archie adds, eyeing a section of wall in desperate need of a new coat of paint. “It’s like a missing episode of an HGTV show, yet not an uncannily attractive host in sight.”

“Sure.”

_ Lost him again, Lodge _ . Archie laughs to fill the space, then asks, “So what's the social scene like here? Any night clubs?”

A redhead girl appears over Jughead’s shoulder and answers for him, “Strip club, gay bar. The former doesn’t let in minors. I know, I tried. The latter does but don’t bother, it’s not worth it. There’s high school sporting events and the subsequent tailgate parties, if that’s your scene,” she looks doubtful as she gives him a once-over. “The movie theater and the drive-in can be nice, but  _ extremely  _ limited choices. I have to say, I mostly just rewatch the L Word. Thank you, GetFlix.”

“Archie Lodge, meet Cheryl Samuels-Keller,” Jughead puts a hand on the girl's shoulder. “Cheryl is--”

“Gay,” Archie fills in. “Congratulations.”

“I worked very hard,” Cheryl agrees, “ _ You _ try being out as a lesbian in middle school.”

“Oh, I did. Didn’t stick, turned out I was a boy.”

Archie gauges Jughead’s reaction out of the corner of his eye, but the other boy doesn’t seem phased by the information, which relieves Archie more than he would care to admit.

“Oh, right!” Cheryl says. “I’ve seen your dad all over twitter for being the ally parent of the century. Speaking of... Is it true what they’re saying about him now?”

“Which part?”  _ The bad part, clearly. _ “My dad is a good person. I’m not going to throw him under the limousine, no matter what the press is saying about him… Does everyone know?”

The look Jughead and Cheryl exchange says enough.

“Great,” Archie says.

“Actually, I don’t think your dad’s shady business dealings are going to make any headlines,” Cheryl says, “considering the  _ Jason  _ of it all.”

“How are you doing with that?” Jughead asks, serious.  


“It’s weird,” Cheryl says, a melancholy creeping into her tone that seems a sharp turn from her cheerful, rambling speech moments ago. Archie feels like he’s intruding on a private conversation. “But when has it not been weird?”

There’s a beat of silence and Archie wonders if he should go try to find his own way around to give the pair a moment to talk, but Cheryl turns to him and breaks the tension.

“Sorry! You must have no idea what that meant,” she laughs. “Um, so I was a basket baby. My parents found me on their porch when I was a few weeks old and the Blossoms are this very old, very rich family in Riverdale notorious for having red hair. Jughead and I have this conspiracy theory that we’ve been developing for years about it.”

She seems eerily comfortable with divulging personal information to an almost-stranger, and Archie likes her immediately for it, “So Jason is...?”

“Possibly my twin brother and almost definitely dead,” Cheryl says. “He disappeared this summer in a boating accident. Never found the body, but it’s been long enough. I’m fine, really. We weren’t close.”

She lets out a little laugh and rubs her eyes. “Anyway, forget my sob story for two seconds and let’s focus on what’s important: the Back-to-School semiformal dance this weekend. Assuming it’s not cancelled.”

Archie glances down the hall and catches sight of Ronnie emerging from one of the side rooms, preoccupied with something. She stands out more now than she did last night. She’s beautiful, but besides that, there’s something  _ familiar  _ about her. He’s definitely never seen her before, but he can’t put his finger on it.

“Caught the Veronica bug too, huh?” Cheryl asks, following his gaze. “Join the club. Jughead is president and I’m treasurer, but you can have the coveted role of secretary. I imagine there’s going to be a big rush to join now that she became a total babe over the summer, so get our official licensed t-shirts before they go out of stock.”

“So you’re not dating?” he asks. “Why haven’t you asked her out?”

“She’s straight,” Cheryl says, at the same time Jughead says, “We’re just friends.”

Cheryl elbows Jughead, “Jughead and Veronica aren't dating  _ yet _ , but they are endgame. It’s the friends-since-third-grade love story of the ages.”

“You should ask her to the semiformal then,” Archie says, because he  _ is  _ trying to turn over a new leaf and he is not about to get in the middle of a tragically straight boy and his childhood crush.

“Yeah, sure,” Jughead says, seemingly uninterested in the suggestion. The bell rings before Archie can get in another word and Jughead, in true peer mentor spirit, shows Archie the way to class.

The semi-formal remains uncancelled. At the assembly, Jason’s stepbrother Kevin Blossom makes a heartfelt speech about honoring Jason’s memory by carrying on with their school lives in his memory.

Over lunch, Archie finds himself sitting with Cheryl, Veronica, and Jughead. Veronica is showing off some of her music, and then takes off early for softball tryouts, because apparently being charming and beautiful is not enough for one girl, and she insists on being a musically-gifted jock too. She's really got the female Troy Bolton thing on lock.

Kevin descends on the lunch table in Veronica’s absence, sitting across from Archie, “What are we gossiping over? Veronica's KStew-esque emergence from the chrysalis of puberty?”

“Extracurriculars,” Archie says, “Weatherbee wants me to sign up for a few.”

“Oh, I can solve that problem. Speech and debate. I’m team captain.”

“Is speech and debate still a thing?” Cheryl snarks.  


“Is being a hag still a thing?” Kevin retorts. He turns his attention to Archie, “A little nerdy? Perhaps.  _ But  _ we heavily vet our club members for… quality,” his eyes flick irritably over Cheryl and Jughead. “And it’s fantastic on college applications. Not to mention, team uniforms are  _ choice _ and paid for by a generous donation from Blossom Maple Farms.”

“I’m in. Jughead, you should try out too.”

“Sure,” Kevin says, in a sickly sweet tone Archie recognizes too well from all of the times he used to use it. “Everyone’s welcome, but it does require a certain level of confidence that not  _ everyone  _ innately has. And Jughead’s already working through a lot right now, confidence probably isn't a top priority. But yes, all are welcome.”

Kevin disappears almost as quickly as he came, dropping their number back down to three. Cheryl wrinkles her nose and goes back to her food. Jughead looks vaguely irritated and a bit sad.

“I’ll help you prep, if you need it,” Archie tells Jughead. “It’s just a practice debate, you’ll be fine. I know guys like Kevin, they’re all bark and no bite.”

“Maybe some bite,” Cheryl mutters.

Jughead agrees to Archie’s offer and after some scrambling to figure out what topic Kevin is setting, they’re something of a team and have a reasonable set of arguments laid out.  When they arrive at the club room, Kevin appears to run an extremely tight ship, already barking orders at other kids who all seem to have similar interests in being rich and popular and getting into Ivy Leagues. It’s maybe a little too similar to Archie’s private school experience and it makes him feel uneasy with how comfortable he could be around these kids.

Jughead gives him a nervous look and Archie knows where he wants his loyalties to lie so long as he's in Riverdale.

“We’ll be fine,” Archie says reassuringly. “You got this.”

In the middle of their debate against what appears to a very mean brother-sister duo, Jughead starts to freeze up. His closing arguments are bombing, frankly, and Archie’s not really sure where it’s going. Which is when he gets an idea.

In the months and years that follow, Archie will never be able to pinpoint why he chooses to do what he does next. There’s some justification of “proving how far he’s willing to go to win” or “knowing full well Kevin is gay and wanting to throw him a bone.”

But in the end, Archie kisses Jughead because of his feelings more than a rational thought, because he’s positive he can make up a good excuse for it later, and most of all because he  _ wants  _ to kiss Jughead.

“Just trust me,” Archie says as he catches Jughead’s shoulders and turns him around until they're face-to-face. Jughead’s eyes meet his again and Archie can see no small amount of panic there. Archie smiles, though they’re close enough now he’s not sure Jughead will see it, but maybe his eyes are enough because Jughead seems to relax. Enough that Archie takes it as a go ahead and leans in until their lips meet.

And holy shit, is he in over his head now.

**Author's Note:**

> eternal thanks to [tibby](https://marge-simpson.tumblr.com/) for their tireless riverswap contributions and to [phoebe](https://donnasweett.tumblr.com/) for helping with reality tv show references.
> 
> *youtuber voice* if you like what you saw today, dont forget to smash that kudos button and leave a comment down below.


End file.
